The recent outcry by Somerville and Cambridge residents over the surprise removal of 37 street trees by a Massachusetts Department of Transportation contractor highlights the inconsistent enforcement of state and local street tree protection laws.

On paper Massachusetts has robust legal protections of public trees. Except for limited exceptions, Chapter 87 of Massachusetts General law requires a public hearing prior to the removal of any healthy street tree. At a hearing anyone in attendance may object to removal, and force the party requesting removal to initiate an appeal process to elected officials. These hearing are required not just for private parties requesting removal, but except in cases of road widening for public entities as well.

But because the law’s implementation and enforcement is delegated to towns, there are big differences in the regulatory protections and fees required for tree removal a from town to town. For example a developer wanting to remove a 100 year old public oak tree to make a more convenient driveway placement might be refused in Cambridge, charged $10,000 in replacement costs in Boston or just $150 in Belmont.

Another town to town difference is how tree wardens interpret their authority to remove trees. Some tree wardens, like Arlington’s, follow the intent of the state law by posting hearing notices before they make a decision to remove a tree that is not a risk to people. Other tree wardens take wider latitude and skip required hearings for otherwise healthy trees for the benefit of a utility company or town department. This short circuits the chance for public involvement.

Tree plantings by the DOT, DCR or local communities, also have variations in success rates from community to community. Prior to the arrival of our tree warden, over 100 new street trees were mis-planted by a DOT subcontractor during a 2015 Massachusetts Avenue redevelopment project, making the long term viability of those trees questionable. Furthermore while most private contractors offer short warranties when planting public trees, many seem to skip watering and hope for rain to keep the trees alive until the warranty period expires.

Public street trees have been planted in the Commonwealth since its earliest days, highly prized for the shade they provided. In the days before air conditioning, the natural cooling provided by a tree was appealing enough for town leaders and taxpayers to invest in plantings.

The benefits of street trees are just as true now as they were then, consider what research over the last decade has found:

Public health: A 2015 study of patient health records and tree density found “significantly higher health perception and significantly less cardio-metabolic conditions,” noting that people who lived on streets with 10 trees per block perceived their health to be that of a person 7 years younger.
Home values: A 2009 study found homes with a public tree in front averaged $8,000 more in value than similar homes without a nearby public street tree.
Retail district income: In highly tree’d areas, consumers were willing to pay 12 percent more for equivalent goods and services in than in business districts without trees according to an article published in the Boston Fed’s Communities & Banking.
Homeowner energy costs: A public tree close to a home acts as wind break in the winter and reduces heating costs. In the summer, it reduces home cooling costs and breaks up heat islands.
Public street trees also provide quantifiable storm-water filtering, air cleaning, and storage of carbon dioxide.

Massachusetts residents who value both trees and sensible financial management should push their community leaders to update tree protection policies to ensure trees are managed as the economic asset they are.

The trees we pass on a daily basis are there because 20, 30, 70 or 100 years ago, forward-thinking communities and taxpayers invested in a resource they knew would outlive themselves. A wealth of evidence points to their wisdom. As the beneficiaries of their largess, we should ‘pay it forward’ with investments in the planting and protection of trees of our own.

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